Exploratory Essay

Ashley Dix

English II- Block 1

Ms. McKoy

05 September 2013

Why Would You Kill Your Best Friend?

            Would you ever put your companion through pain, suffering, and neglect? I have two horses and I would never put them through anything that would hurt them, or put them in a situation where someone else could. One of my horses is a retired race horse that can no longer be ridden above a walk, but I still took the initiative to take care of her and that is a responsibility that I have to stick to! I would never put her through a gruesome death because she cannot work, or live to the potential that I know she could.  I also have a paint named Sam that is strong, healthy, able to work, and races in competitions almost every weekend.  Irresponsible owners send horses in cold, dark, muggy, crowded, fearful, and inhumane slaughter houses unknowing of the treatment that follows. Horses are lifelong friends and do not need to be put through pain and suffering because the owners were unaware of what to do when they buy them, or what happens when the owners send the horses to slaughter houses.

            Many people do not know exactly what slaughter houses are, or what they do. Slaughter houses are also called plants, or abattoirs. Slaughter houses do not care for the animals that they are killing or the health of the animals while they are being transported. Many horses get sold at auctions, and they are auctioned off depending on their weight, and how much the owner wants for the horse. If a horse is under 1000$ they will most likely be sent to a slaughter house, without the owner thinking twice about it. Abattoirs do not allow horses to eat or drink during transportation, and the horses do not have much time at the abattoir to do anything at all. The reason why slaughter houses exist is because there are many unwanted or strayed horses in the United States. But, if people were educated and knew the responsibilities of owning a horse, maybe the numbers would decrease.

Many horses are killed every day in the United States. While doing research, I found that Karin Winegar states, “existing facilities have an estimated capacity for only about 6,000 horses--not nearly enough to absorb the 90,000 to 100,000 or so animals that have been typically slaughtered each year.” This shows that there are over 6,000 horses being killed each year, and it is because the owners do not know how to take care of these horses and also do not know what to do with them whenever they can’t find use with these horses. The number of slaughtered horses is way too high in the United States and I feel that the number could be decreased by educating people about the responsibilities of owning a horse. Another piece of information I found from my research was that Jennifer Corkery states, “ Double-decker big rig trailers are designed for shorter livestock causing horses to not be able to raise their heads causing new injuries. Injuries can also be caused by the horses slipping on the metal floors filled with manure and urine.” This quote explains how the owners of these abattoirs do not care for these horses when they are being transported to these plants, but also do not care if they injure these horses.

            There is a lot of cruelty that happens at a slaughter house, whether you believe it or not. Horses arrive at these slaughter houses and do not get any type of treatment. They are automatically shoved into chutes where they are, “shot in the skull with a captive dead bolt.” Corkery explains. A captive dead bolt is a four inch nail that punctures through the skull and the brain then retracts in order for the horse to die instantly. Sadly, not all of these horses die on the first bolt. There are many horses that have to take 3-4 shots to the head before they are left to bleed out. After that your amazing companion is made into products, or shipped to Mexico, Canada, Belgium, France, or Switzerland to become food.

            Slaughter houses are cruel and are becoming unmanageable. I picked this topic because my horses mean a lot to me. They are like my best friend and they are animals that trust you with everything and look up to you. I would like to research this topic further because I still feel that slaughter houses/plants are not being controlled properly and the real issue is the over breeding and people not understanding their responsibilities. Should the ban for slaughter houses be more serious? Or are we going to continue to kill our best friends? The horses cannot do anything about this, but you can!